liberians
Residents of West Point celebrate the lifting of a quarantine by the Liberian government, in Monrovia, Liberia, Aug. 30, 2014. The quarantine measures were designed to contain the spread of the deadly Ebola virus. Reuters

Thousands of Liberians demonstrated in the country's capital of Monrovia on Friday due to rising prices and corruption under President George Weah.

"Protestors feel let down by the government and by George Weah. This is by far the biggest challenge the president has faced since coming to office," Ahmed Idris, an al-Jazeera reporter at the demonstrations in Monrovia said.

Netblocks, an NGO that monitors internet freedom, said that the Liberian government has blocked Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Whatsapp in response to the protests. Liberia's Minister of Information confirmed the black out to CNN and said it was due to "security concerns."

The protests were organized by a civil society coalition called the Council of Patriots, which is made up of politicians, students and individuals from all classes of Liberian society.

An independent media owner and member of the Council of Patriots, Henry Costa, said that "We are in North Korea. We have a dictator on our head," Deutsche Welle reported.

The protests were given the #SavetheState hashtag on social media.

The Council of Patriots said in a statement that they are "Encouraged by growing consensus among Liberians at home and abroad about the need for urgent, peaceful and concerned citizens' mass actions to save the Liberian state from total breakdown as the governance environment continues to worsen."

George Weah, a former professional soccer player, was sworn in as Liberia's president in January 2018. Fighting corruption and improving life conditions for the average Liberian were major motifs during his campaign.